You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J remarks. There she was gearing up for her new album launch in eight years, ecstatically in love with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for ten years, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
The singer-songwriter, real name J. Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The album, her latest release, was intended as an open book, addressing every moment of pain she’d experienced since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Later follow-up track, Living My Best Life, came out in May and she was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while all the while coping with her cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.
She gives me her best “Are you kidding?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.
We meet at a studio in London. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, blue jeans with ornate white designs, cream boots and big frames. Imagine motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the movie. “They used to call me that!” She grins. She is fast-thinking, unfiltered and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her standup debut next year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I often tease the fans.”
Personal Battles and News
The artist was getting ready for an appearance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the Monday. By then the singer had assured herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.
“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after years away and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call believing it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have shown aggressive cancer.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”
I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself
She found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I hate being put under. They lead you. In urgent cases you are wheeled, but now I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Thank fuck I found it early. I had the mastectomy recently and my one side now resembles a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”
The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”
Past Medical Issues
She is accustomed to medical issues. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. They have often coincided with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Take a seat.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”
She recalls to her childhood, already beginning performing in the West End in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and teenage Jess has entered the female band Soul Deep while attending the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a automobile accident and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a year.”
Oi, I say, slow down, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees
